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Moths
Moth people were an aerial, anthropoid species living during the New Age. They were once butterfly people but had since evolved into a completely different species. History Moths and butterflies were descended from a common ancestor, the Lepidoptera. At some point near the end of the Old Age, a Cataclysm befell the lands, creating the Great Divide and forever separating clans of aerials with uncrossable geographic boundaries. A group of aerials retreated to the desert, destined to become the ancestors of the moth colony. Unable to sustain themselves on nectar and eyeberries, the moth ancestors were forced to hunt meat and learn to survive in the harsh desert climate. Several generations previously, the moths had hunted the butterflies to near extinction until the butterflies sequestered themselves in the forest, hiding from the other Greater Races. The location of the butterfly grotto was not known to the moths. The moth colony living in the Golden Desert referred to themselves as the Moth Dominion, having created a stronghold surrounded by large, upended boulders that was inaccessible to non-aerials. It is not known if there were other moth colonies living elsewhere. Their succession of leaders included Flazzah, then Lord Xarzuss, then High Priestess Axziss, and most recently, High Priestess Nazzis. Biology and Culture Moth people tended to have skin tones that were green, blue, or purple in hue. Like butterflies, they had head-mounted antennae and wings on their backs, though their wings tended to be brown and jagged-edged. Their wing dust was regarded as noxious and possibly poisonous to other races. Moths were typically underweight in the extreme, with their skeletal structure blatantly visible through their skin. This was likely due to the radical change in diet they were forced to adopt. Likewise, moth blood had a dark purple color, rather than the light pink color of butterflies. Perhaps due to their high mineral intake and their general lack of hydration, moth tissue tended to be more tightly packed than other species. Their claws and bones exhibited an extremely high density. Moth saliva had special congealing properties that allowed their blood to coagulate more quickly if they were injured. A typical moth excelled at tracking light sources and movement, but fared poorly in judging detail from long distances. Moth people did not have functional tear ducts. Moth people hunted living creatures for food. They ate raw meat, and frequently used the entrails and bones of their kills as well. Moths typically wore the pelts of their prey, and used their skulls as armor or helmets. They fashioned bones of their kills into weapons, creating boneswords and other implements. Contemporary moths found butterfly food to be inedible, though their bodies responded similarly to the curative effects of starflower nectar when used for medicinal purposes. They placed a far higher value on potential food sources than they did when it came to gold or jewels. Moth reproduction incorporated their telepathic capacity for zellenzas, the act of merging minds. Moth grublings were regularly pricked with sharp needles in order to properly acclimate them to pain, helping them to become stronger. By one estimate, as many as half of all moth children failed to make it to adulthood. Moths were typically taught to fight until they were physically unable to raise a weapon. Male moths possessed greater strength, but were ultimately considered more expendible than females. The moths had diverged from the butterflies to the point where they had developed their own, separate language. It contained a high frequency of "s" and "z" consonants, sometimes sounding like buzzing to the untrained ear. The moth people generally regarded the butterfly people as enemies. Many of them were jealous of the butterflies who had never been forced to live in harsh conditions and who still bore beautiful colors on their wings. Others felt superiority over the butterflies, regarding them as weak and cowardly for hiding in the forest. The moths were naturally drawn to fire, and felt a particularly strong pull from the Sun, or what they called the Great Flame. The moths relied upon the Sun to track the passage of time, for navigation on long flights, and to track their own life spans. Lack of exposure to the Sun's rays had a detrimental effect on moth psychology and physiology. Moths occasionally found it necessary to excommunicate one of their own members, condemning them to death. A moth who had been exiled from the colony was not spoken of or acknowledged again. No moth banished from the colony ever rejoined them again. The Lost Treasure of Torlynn Seeking to begin a war with the moths, the King of Torlynn sent a group of armed knights to attack the moths living in the Golden Desert. The moths responded quickly, killing the group and sending teams to seek retribution for this aggression. After coming across the crew of the Mermaid's Bliss, a pirate crew sent to hunt aerials, the moths attacked, picking up the group of humans and dropping them into the Darklands, intending to slaughter them. They kept one of the pirates alive, a female named Christabel who had discovered the secret location of the butterfly grotto and bargained with the moths to give it to them in exchange for her life. The moths believed that their gods would not permit this, and instead they prepared to offer up Christabel as a sacrifice to them—until the butterfly princess, and a surviving pirate came to her rescue. Later, the butterfly princess came to the moths and asked for help in freeing her captive people from the castle of Torlynn. The moth leader, Lord Xarzuss, agreed on the condition that the butterfly princess surrender to them. The moths were part of an attack on the castle in which both humans and moths met their fate. Finally, fearing for the continued safety of the moths, the second-in-command under Xarzuss, a female named Axziss, killed the moth lord and called the retreat. The Quest for the World-Breaker Axziss became the new leader of the Moth Dominion, serving as their High Priestess. After discovering the existence of the World-Breaker, the moths began to search for its scattered pieces, intending to find the weapon before anyone else. Despite a treaty that had been signed with the humans of Torlynn preventing aggressive actions towards them, the moths deemed the discovery of the weapon to be more important and began torching human towns to excavate beneath them in search of the weapon components. When a moth warrior named Syxx returned to the colony after disappearing during battle, the Moth Dominion was unforgiving towards her in the extreme. They could detect that she had been spending time with humans and that she had been eating her fill of food without bringing any back for the others. As punishment, she was physically brutalized and banished from the moth colony, who left her in the mountains to die. Later, members of the Moth Dominion hid on board the airship Xanthippe in order to take the crew by surprise after they had found the pieces of the weapon. The moths on board killed the goblin crew, but were unsuccessful in activating the weapon. Many of the moths on the ship were killed after it was attacked by Forever the dragon. The Curse of the Fate Shifter In 3892, moths were spotted in the town of Guttersworth, using magic taught to them by Deorwynn Fletcher. It had been their instructions to capture vagrants and elderly from that locale, delivering them to Deorwynn so she could use their blood to fuel her magic. Embarrassment of Riches Indeed, Deorwynn had recruited an entire moth army, either dispatching or killing their leader Nazzis in order to take her place. Deorwynn had enchanted the moths and used them as her enforcers. The moths defended Deorwynn's base, the volcano within the Forgotten Basin, when "Four" Wheeler and his team attacked the volcano. The Veil of Souls A group of moths was sent by Deorwynn Fletcher to destroy the graduates of Arkingston Military Academy, who had intercepted the crew of the Endeavor and were trying to stop the crew from acquiring the focusing crystals for the keystone scepter. After killing the graduates, the moths retreated, much to the surprise of the crew. Behind the Scenes ''In real life, moths are not considered to be biologically different from butterflies, making the shared origin of the moth people and butterfly people particularly appropriate. '' Category:Races Category:Greater Races